This month, Heluna Health celebrated the recipients of the organization’s Board and Client Awards, recognizing their remarkable achievements, growth, and commitment to advancing public health. The Board Awards were presented at the board leadership dinner, and the Client Awards at a gathering of Heluna Health staff, leadership, and clients at the organization’s headquarters in City of Industry. We are proud to congratulate all our award recipients who have each made a meaningful impact in advancing our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of every community we serve.
The celebrations highlighted the accomplishments of award recipients Elisa Gonzalez, Heluna Health Accounting Manager, Los Angeles Network for Enhanced Services (LANES), California Prevention Training Center (CAPTC), the Health Consortium of Greater San Gabriel Valley, Health Officer’s Association of California (HOAC), Dr. Coffin and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) Center on Substance Use and Health, and LA County Abundant Birth Project. Heluna Health congratulates all our award recipients on their remarkable accomplishments!
Elisa Gonzalez, Accounting Manager at Heluna Health was honored with the Board of Directors Certificate of Outstanding Individual Achievement. Elisa has been with Heluna Health for more than 30 years, growing with the organization in various roles, and her strong organizational skills, detailed acumen, ability to communicate effectively, and commitment continue to shine through. Elisa is recognized by her colleagues for her dedication, loyalty, and contributions to the organization, always being willing to surface issues while providing ideas and thoughts on how to continue to improve existing processes.
Los Angeles Network for Enhanced Services (LANES) was honored with the Board of Directors Certificate of Outstanding Team Achievement and the Semi-Annual Award for Growth. A community driven Qualified Health Information Organization (QHIO), LANES works to enhance healthcare delivery and patient outcomes by providing secure platforms to bridge gaps in the healthcare ecosystem and support care providers.
The advanced technology developed by LANES, including the Google Cloud Healthcare API and BigQuery, allows for seamless integration and data sharing across over 30 healthcare organizations, ensuring that healthcare providers have all the data they need to make informed decisions for their patients. Through remarkable achievements in technology, innovation, and impact, LANES has proven itself a leader in the healthcare ecosystem, expanding its customer network by 143% in just one year. Additionally, in supporting California’s efforts to transform Medi-Cal, LANES is helping to create a more equitable healthcare system for low-income populations.
California Prevention Training Center (CAPTC) was honored with the Semi-Annual Award for Growth. CAPTC works to deliver high-quality, comprehensive technical assistance and training to clinicians and healthcare professionals to enhance their service delivery and build capacity. The organization provides over 160 trainings and events on an annual basis that focus on topics including sexual and reproductive health, disease intervention, and family planning.
CAPTC has continued to expand and diversify its curriculum development, including creating an Introduction to Public Health course sponsored by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and developing two additional CDPH curricula focused on Ethics in Public Health and Disease Intervention. Additionally, the organization recently secured a competitive renewal of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Capacity Building grant to increase its core training and technical assistance services for health departments and community-based organizations.
The Health Consortium of Greater San Gabriel Valley (HC-SGV) was honored with the Quarterly Longevity Award. A partner of Heluna Health since 2014, The Health Consortium is a diverse community of healthcare organizations, providers, and agencies, working collectively to build and strengthen networks and partnerships in the San Gabriel Valley. Established to address health disparities, The Health Consortium has now grown into a resource for promoting health equity and access to facilitate integrated, quality, culturally responsive care in the San Gabriel Valley through collective action and community engagement.
The Health Consortium also provides a space for participant organizations, agencies, and institutions to foster relationships and share information on relevant and emerging topics that impact health equity and quality of care. Additionally, they host yearly health summits to foster collaboration, discuss challenges, and share solutions between all participants to increase services and support from organizations and clinics to individuals living in the Greater San Gabriel Valley area.
Health Officer’s Association of California (HOAC) was honored with the Quarterly Longevity Award. HOAC is a membership organization representing the physician health officers in California’s city and county jurisdictions. The organization has been a partner of Heluna Health since 2014, advancing public health through special projects, emergency preparedness, and medical education, establishing policies to prevent disease, promote health equity, and support local health departments. Currently, 59 of the 61 local health departments in California are members of HOAC.
Additionally, HOAC’s online learning collaborative is home to dozens of essential resources selected to help health officers, health executives and their staff better communicate public health issues and more effectively promote health equity.
Dr. Coffin and the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Center on Substance Use and Health (CSUH) was honored with the Quarterly Award for Growth. CSUH works to create better health outcomes for all people who use substances through studying and supporting pharmacologic, behavioral, and system interventions addressing substance use and related health outcomes. In addition to their research, CSUH facilitates community outreach through their Community Consulting Group, inviting local individuals and key community members to provide feedback and assist in study design, outreach and participant recruitment, dissemination of study results, and more.
Under the direction of Dr. Phillip Coffin, M.D., M.I.A., the Center’s portfolio has expanded beyond its initial focus on reducing HIV infections related to substance use to include studies about a range of substance use-related health issues. Dr. Coffin is also credited with developing a major international conference, Preventing Heroin Overdose: Pragmatic Approaches, and establishing the first hospital-based naloxone distribution program at Columbia University Medical Center.
LA County Abundant Birth Project was honored with the Quarterly Award for Growth. Abudant Birth Project provides unconditional income supplements to pregnant individuals at the highest risk of preterm birth. Through innovative programming, coalition building, and a steadfast pursuit of systems change, the Abundant Birth Project advances a transformational approach that values and centers mothers facing the greatest inequities.
Since its founding, Abundant Birth Project’s growth has been steady. Despite initial setbacks, their incredible team has continued to push forward and has served 400 pregnant parents in under eight months. With the support of community engagement partners, the organization also provides additional referrals and resource connections through weekly community activities and events.
Congratulations to all our outstanding award recipients! Heluna Health is proud to support this life-changing work.